The Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) today congratulated the Victorian Liberals and Opposition Leader Ted Baillieu in particular for deciding to preference the Greens last in every seat in the upcoming State election.

ACL Victorian Director Rob Ward said the decision will help Victoria avoid an unstable election outcome where the State is held hostage to the Greens’ radical social and economic agendas.

“The Liberals decision not to preference the Greens in any seat is good news for Victorians, as it means the Greens will be less likely to gain power through an alliance with either major party – thereby achieving disproportionate leverage for their extreme social and economic policies,” Mr Ward said.

“We only have to look at the current Federal Parliament, where the problem is not just the nature of the radical social and economic policies, but the inordinate waste of parliamentary time that concessions to the Greens for debating their agendas inevitably entails, particularly when it involves conscience votes. Victorians are better served with a Parliament concentrating on real issues,” he said.

“We congratulate Mr Baillieu for sticking to his principles and choosing to take what some people might see as a politically disadvantageous position.”

Mr Ward also noted that both major parties had rather oddly decided to preference the Australian Sex Party in the Northern Metropolitan region.

“Our preference has always been that parties should relegate this porn-promoting party to last position,” he said.

Mr Ward expressed the hope the number crunchers had not mistakenly handed a seat to another radical group while focussing attention on not preferencing the Greens.